Partly because of economic volatility, longer-term brokered CDs have become more competitive in the past few years. In recent regulatory proposals, the competitive environment could get significantly more challenging. Traditional banks should be aware of the regulatory conversations and prepared to take their customers through the process of considering and pursuing these investment vehicles.

At the start of 2017, analysts around the world vocalized their expectations about the opportunities and complexities that would impact the C-suite in general and CFOs in particular. With a new president in the U.S., Brexit in the European Union, cyber attacks in almost every major market and industry, and continuing acceleration in financial technology innovation, CFOs have had plenty of complex, micro- and macroeconomic impacts to address.

At the start of 2017, we looked at the topics that were of the greatest interest to you in 2016. Issues related to regulatory changes, cyber issues, demographic shifts, and new banking channels and roles for community banks captured our attention—and yours. Not surprisingly, our most popular blogs of 2016 were related to technology risk and complexity, global markets, and regulatory complexity.

There’s no shortage of information in the marketplace. Our clients don’t lack insights into their past and current business scenarios. More and more of them are actively pursuing relationships with firms that can help them to be proactive about looking forward. They have recognized that anticipatory insights are absolutely necessary for generating a strong opportunity pipeline as well as to predict (and prevent) problems. HORNE is that partner for many of our clients.

A 2014 piece by Intuit Quicken reported that in a national financial capability study performed by FINRA, participants were asked five questions related to everyday personal finance and economics - 61% of the participants were unable to correctly answer more than three questions.

In chess, each player must strategize the exact right moves to defeat the opponent. Getting to make the first move may be the greatest advantage. In business, as in chess, first movers often gain momentum by grabbing market share before others get into the market.

Ask any banker to name the thorns in their side, and chances are they’ll come up with a few usual suspects, like regulatory compliance and its increasing costs. Since the Great Recession, Other Real Estate Owned (OREO) has earned a spot among those familiar thorns.

I have fond memories of working as a bank teller in a small town during my college years, serving customers and hearing their stories. I’ll never forget my first Friday. It seemed like I’d cashed a thousand checks and it’s a miracle I balanced my drawer. But nothing was more satisfying than handing a smiling worker the cash they’d earned over a long, hard week.

The Federal Reserve is set to end its downward pressure on interest rates by the end of 2014, coinciding with the end-of-draw period for many HELOC borrowers. It poses what many in the housing and financial industries are labeling a crisis level risk.

Do you want to have one of those awkward board room discussions? If so, bring up the topic of board member term limits. As I type this I can hear my two girls in their high pitch voices saying…awkward!

We have discussed five key components to consider in an incentive compensation plan. The viewpoints addressed in that blog and the increased scrutiny placed on bank executive compensation made in an article in the Wall Street Journal really stand out in its contrast. It pointed out that, on average, bank regulators make more than bankers. Not just a little more. The average bank regulator earns 2.7 times more than the average private banker. And this multiple has been increasing since the passage of the Dodd-Frank Act in 2010.